The present invention relates generally to refrigerators and in particular to an interface for the transmission of information between the door and the cabinet of the refrigerator.
Refrigerators typically have one or two doors that may be pivotally secured to the refrigerator cabinet with hinges. It is known to provide components on or in the refrigerator doors that require information or other things, such as water or electrical current, to be moved between the refrigerator and the door.
Oftentimes the transmission of water; electrical power and information is transmitted via conduits and wires that extend between the cabinet and the door, and to allow the door to pivot open and closed, the conduits and wires are directed through the pintle of one or more hinges of the door, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,800.
When the wires and conduits are threaded through the hinge pintle, the difficulty that arises is when the swing of the door must be changed, such as from a right hand opening to a left hand opening, and the door hinge must be transferred from one side of the door and cabinet to the other. This requires that the wires and conduits be disconnected and rerouted from one side of the door and cabinet to the other.
Other arrangements are known for transmitting water and electrical power from the cabinet to the door without using conduits that pass through the hinge pintle.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,905, a water conduit in the cabinet terminates above a point where an opening to a reservoir in the door will be located when the door is closed, such that water may be delivered from the cabinet to the door without requiring a conduit through the door pintle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,888, an ice chute in the cabinet terminates above a point where a continuation of the ice chute is located in the door when the door is closed, such that ice may be delivered from the cabinet to the door.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,786, control means and driver means include signal reception/transmission members, one on the door and one in the cabinet, to transmit information between the door and the cabinet, without requiring wires through the hinge. Electrical current is transmitted between the door and the cabinet via a set of contacts on the cabinet and a set of contacts on the door that engage when the door is closed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,222, a refrigerator shelf and the refrigerator cabinet are arranged to be able to communicate by means of inductive circuits, to transmit information between the two items, without a direct electrical connection using wires. Communication between the shelf and the cabinet via RF is also disclosed.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,058, an appliance is provided with a control in the cabinet and a user activated control panel on a movable door of the appliance, with information transmitted between the door and the cabinet via an RF signal, without requiring wires extending between the cabinet and the door.
In JP 2003319573, JP2002320348, JP2001128392, JP2001128391 and JP2001033136, power is transmitted between the cabinet and door of a refrigerator via induction, without requiring wiring to extend between the door and the cabinet. In JP2002044847, electrical power is transmitted between the door and the cabinet of a refrigerator via contacts that are magnetically attracted to one another when the door is in the closed position. Wiring does not extend through the door hinge.